Projector and projector accessory

ABSTRACT

A projector for enlarging and projecting the display image on a light valve onto a screen is provided with: an infrared photodetector for photodetecting infrared light that is emitted by an electronic pen that is manipulated on the screen and that is provided with an infrared light emission device and ultrasonic generator; at least two ultrasonic receivers for detecting ultrasonic waves that are emitted by the electronic pen; means for measuring the distance to a screen; and means for supplying coordinate data in which the position of the electronic pen on the screen, which has been calculated based on output of the infrared photodetector, output of the ultrasonic generator, and output of the means for measuring the distance to the screen, has been normalized by the length of a side of a projected rectangular image that has been enlarged and projected.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a projector that has an electronicblackboard function and to a projector accessory that adds an electronicblackboard function to a projector.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, coordinate input devices have been developed thatcombine a signal processor having two ultrasonic receivers and oneinfrared light photodetector with an electronic pen having an infraredlight emitting device and an ultrasonic generator. Such devices are aform of electronic blackboard capability in which a signal processor isinstalled in, for example, a white board, the position of an electronicpen is obtained by measuring the distance from the electronic pen to twoultrasonic receivers, and this position then taken into a personalcomputer as coordinates.

Regarding the construction, a signal processor is installed in thecorner of a white board, the image of a personal computer is projectedby a projector onto the white board, and the position of the projectedimage is read into the signal processor by using an electronic pen todesignate specific positions of the projected image (for example, thefour corners of the board). The coordinates of the electronic pen on theboard are subsequently calculated by comparing the position of theelectronic pen and the previously memorized specific positions. Thesecalculated coordinates are transferred to the personal computer, wherebyfigures that are drawn on the board or the movement of a mouse cursorare processed (For example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-OpenPublication No. 2002-331796 (pp. 3-5, FIG. 3)).

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B shows a typical example of the prior art, which isnext described.

As shown in FIG. 1A, signal processor 102 that is installed on screen100 is provided with infrared photodetector 120, ultrasonic receiver121, and ultrasonic receiver 122. Infrared light pulse 104 andultrasonic pulse 105 (“pulse” is here used to indicate a signal that isemitted for only an instant) are simultaneously emitted from electronicpen 103. Using the same principle by which the distance of lightning canbe calculated from the difference between the time the lightning is seenand the time it is heard, signal processor 102 is able to find thedistance from electronic pen 103 to each of ultrasonic receivers 121 and122 by measuring the time interval from the input of infrared lightpulse 104 to infrared photodetector 120 to the input of ultrasonic wavesto ultrasonic receivers 121 and 122. Ultrasonic receivers 121 and 122are fixed to signal processor 102, and the position of electronic pen103 as seen from ultrasonic receivers 121 and 122 can be found based onthe principle of triangulation (the position of a specific point can becalculated if the distance from the specific point to two differentknown points is known).

As shown in FIG. 1B, an image is projected onto a whiteboard by aprojector; and projected image upper left 161, projected image upperright 162, projected image lower left 163, and projected image lowerright 164 are designated by electronic pen 103 to store the position ofprojected image 106 in signal processor 102 (initialization ofcoordinates). When electronic pen 103 is subsequently used withinprojected image 106, the position of electronic pen 103 within the imagecan be calculated by comparing electronic pen 103 with the position ofprojected image, whereby the mouse cursor of the personal computer canbe moved and icons on the screen can be designated. This concludes theconstruction of the prior art example.

In the above-described prior-art example, however, coordinates on aplanar surface can be acquired only on a whiteboard in which a signalprocessor has been installed, and cannot be acquired on a whiteboardthat lacks a signal processor. An additional problem is the necessityfor initialization of coordinates by, for example, designating the fourcorner of an image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention was realized in view of these problems and has asits object the provision of a projector having an electronic blackboardfunction and a projector accessory that adds an electronic blackboardfunction to a projector, this projector and projector accessory beingable to provide a solution to the above-described two problems byproviding a projector with a signal processor or by providing aprojector with a means for acquiring the distance from a projector to ascreen.

To solve the above-described problems, the projector of the presentinvention includes: an infrared photodetector for detecting infraredlight that is emitted by an electronic pen that is manipulated on ascreen and that is provided with an infrared light emission device andan ultrasonic generator; and at least two ultrasonic receivers thatdetect ultrasonic waves that are emitted by the electronic pen; theprojector being provided with the capability of acquiring the positionof the electronic pen on the screen.

Another projector of the present invention is provided with: an infraredphotodetector for detecting infrared light that is emitted by anelectronic pen that is manipulated on a screen and that is provided withan infrared light emission device and an ultrasonic generator; at leasttwo ultrasonic receivers that detect ultrasonic waves that are generatedby the electronic pen; and a means for measuring the distance to thescreen.

In addition, the above-described projector may further be provided witha means for acquiring the position of the electronic pen on the screenfrom the output of the infrared photodetector, the output of theultrasonic receivers, and the output of the means for measuring thedistance to the screen.

In addition, the above-described projector may be further provided withcalibration means for: estimating the projector screen distance by usingthe electronic pen to indicate calibration points that are displayed bythe projector; based on the projector-screen distance, correcting thevertical component of Cartesian coordinates derived by converting thedistance to the pen tip; performing this correction for each calibrationpoint; and storing the generated coordinates as corrected coordinates.

Another projector of the present invention is a projector that enlargesand projects a display image on a light valve onto a screen, thisprojector being provided with: an infrared photodetector for detectinginfrared light that is emitted by an electronic pen that is manipulatedon a screen and that is equipped with an infrared light emission deviceand an ultrasonic generator; at least two ultrasonic receivers fordetecting ultrasonic waves that are emitted by the electronic pen; meansfor measuring the distance to the screen; means for supplying coordinatedata in which the position of the electronic pen on the screen that iscalculated based on output of the infrared photodetector, output of theultrasonic receivers, and output of the means for measuring the distanceto the screen has been normalized by the length of a side of a projectedrectangular image that has been enlarged and projected; and means forperforming calibration by: estimating the projector screen distance byusing the electronic pen to indicate calibration points that aredisplayed by the projector, based on the projector-screen distance,correcting the vertical component of Cartesian coordinates derived byconverting the distance to the pen tip, performing correction for eachof the calibration points, and storing the generated coordinates ascorrected coordinates; and in actual drawing, generating Cartesiancoordinates based on the distance to the pen tip, using theprojector-screen distance that was obtained during calibration tocorrect the vertical component, and using the corrected coordinates thatwere obtained during calibration to convert Cartesian coordinates aftercorrection to a panel coordinate system.

The above-described projector may be a mirror-projection projector.

The projector accessory of the present invention includes: an infraredphotodetector for detecting infrared light that is emitted by anelectronic pen that is manipulated on a screen and that is provided withan infrared light emission device and an ultrasonic generator; and atleast two ultrasonic receivers for detecting ultrasonic waves that areemitted by the electronic pen; and adds to the projector the capabilityto acquire the position of the electronic pen on the screen.

Another projector accessory of the present invention is provided with aninfrared photodetector for detecting infrared light that is emitted byan electronic pen that is manipulated on a screen and that is providedwith an infrared light emission device and an ultrasonic generator; atleast two ultrasonic receivers for detecting ultrasonic waves that aregenerated by the electronic pen; and means for measuring the distance tothe screen.

The above-described projector accessory may be further provided with ameans for acquiring the position of the electronic pen on the screenbased on the output of the infrared photodetector, the outputs of theultrasonic receivers, and the output of the means for measuring thedistance to the screen.

The above-described projector accessory may be further provided withcalibration means for: estimating the projector screen distance by usingthe electronic pen to indicate calibration points that are displayed bythe projector; based on the projector-screen distance, correcting thevertical component of Cartesian coordinates derived by converting thedistance to the pen tip; performing this correction at each calibrationpoint; and storing the generated coordinates as corrected coordinates.

The above-described projector may be a mirror-projection projector.

According to the present invention, a projector having an electronicblackboard function and a projector accessory for endowing a projectorwith an electronic blackboard function are realized by providing aprojector with a signal processor or by providing a projector with meansfor acquiring the distance from the projector to a screen, therebyallowing a solution to the two problems in the prior-art example, theseproblems being the inability to obtain coordinates on any planar surfaceother than a whiteboard in which a signal processor was installed, andthus, the inability to acquire coordinates on a whiteboard that lacked asignal processor; and in addition, the necessity for coordinateinitialization by designating the four corners of a screen.

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following description withreference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate examples of thepresent invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are views for explaining an electronic blackboard of theprior art.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a form of utilizing the projectionsystem of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the projector ofthe present invention.

FIG. 4 shows the coordinate conversion process by means of thecalibration operation and an actual drawing operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the projection system of the presentinvention. This projection system is composed of screen 1, electronicpen 3 for drawing forms on the screen, and projector 7. Electronic pen 3has an infrared light emission device and an ultrasonic generator.

In addition, the compositional blocks of projector 7 are shown in FIG.3.

Projector 7 is made up from: signal processor 10, projection optics 40,and CPU 30. Signal processor 10 is made up from: infrared photodetector70, ultrasonic receivers 71 and 72, distance measurement means 73 formeasuring the distance to the screen, and distance calculator 50 forcalculating the distance to electronic pen 3 based on the outputs ofthese components.

Projection optics 40 in this case indicates a mirror projection systemfor projecting a display image on a light valve (not shown in thefigure) by means of a plurality of non-spherical mirrors. A projector ofthis type can realize ultra-short focusing and features the advantagesoffered by using an electronic blackboard function, i.e., the abilityfor the person giving a presentation to stand in front of the screenwithout blocking the projection light, thus eliminating both glare andshadows.

Distance measurement means 73 for measuring the distance to the screenis in this case constituted by an ultrasonic sensor.

The ultrasonic sensor sends ultrasonic pulses into the air by driving apiezoelectric curved vibrator having a oscillation frequency ofapproximately 40-50 KHz by burst pulses having a fixed cycle, and usesthe same vibrator to detect reflected pulse echoes from screen 1.

Distance measurement means 73 for measuring the distance to the screenmay be a millimeter-wave echo sounder means.

Sending a continuous millimeter wave toward the screen causesinterference with the reflected waves from the screen.

The positions of the interference peaks and troughs vary when theoscillation frequency is swept. The distance between the projector andscreen can be detected based on the trace width of the frequency and theinterference amplitude.

Distance calculator 50 calculates the three-dimensional coordinatedistance between electronic pen 3 on the screen and projector 7 based ondistance information to the screen that was measured by distancemeasurement means 73 as well as the time differences between ultrasonicpulses 51 and 52 that are received by ultrasonic receivers 71 and 72 andinfrared light pulse 4 from electronic pen 3 that is photodetected byinfrared photodetector 70.

CPU 30 carries out a process for correcting the trapezoidal distortionduring projection in the projected image input as necessary and suppliesthe resulting projected image input as output to the light valve. At thesame time, CPU 30 calculates the position of electronic pen 3 based onthe output of distance calculator 50 and supplies this result outsidethe projector.

Explanation next regards the operation of the projector.

Projector 7 projects an input image onto screen 1.

The principles of the operation for acquiring the position of electronicpen 3 are similar to those of the prior-art example in which a signalprocessor was provided on a screen, but in contrast with the prior-artexample, ultrasonic receivers 71 and 72 are not on the screen surfaceand cannot use the principles of triangulation in a two-dimensionalarea. In actuality, even if the two distances from electronic pen 3 toultrasonic receivers 71 and 72 are found by means of ultrasonic wavepulses 51 and 52, the position of electronic pen 3 can be determinedonly as somewhere on a circle that takes as center a portion of the linethat joins the two ultrasonic receivers 71 and 72 and that isperpendicular to the straight line, as can be seen by position 8 ofelectronic pen 3 as determined by the ultrasonic receivers.

Thus, in order to acquire the position of electronic pen 3 on thescreen, the distance from ultrasonic receivers 71 and 72 to the screenmust be obtained. Once this distance is found, the position ofelectronic pen 3 can be limited to intersection 9 between the screensurface and the circle described by position 8 of the electronic penthat was obtained by the ultrasonic receivers. Although there are twopoints of intersection between the surface and the circle, andelectronic pen 3 may also be located at intersection 90, in actuality,only intersection 9 need be considered.

The position of a projected image on the screen is calculated by CPU 30based on the distance between projector 7 and screen 1. Using thisposition as a reference, the position of electronic pen 3 is normalizedand supplied as coordinate data output. Accordingly, the position ofelectronic pen 3 can be acquired without the need for projector 7 toproject an image onto screen 1.

Calibration is realized before electronic pen 3 is used. FIG. 4 showsthe calibration operation.

In calibration, by using electronic pen 3 to indicate calibration pointsthat are displayed by projector 7, the projector-screen distance isfirst estimated, following which the projector-screen distance is usedas a basis for correcting the vertical component of Cartesiancoordinates that are derived by converting the distance to the pen tip.This correction is carried out for each of the calibration points andthe generated coordinates are then stored as corrected coordinates.

In actual drawing, Cartesian coordinates are generated from the distanceto the pen point, the vertical component is corrected using theprojector-screen distance that was obtained in calibration, and theCartesian coordinates following correction are then converted to a panelcoordinate system using the corrected coordinates that were obtainedduring calibration.

Although a case was described in the present embodiment in which thedistance to the screen was obtained by using distance measurement means73 that assumes that the screen size is variable, the distance to thescreen may be directly applied as input to the projector when theprojector body is installed in a fixed position.

In addition, a case was described in which signal processor 10 ismounted in projector 7, but as one option, signal processor 10 can bealso be furnished as an accessory.

Although the foregoing explanation related to a case in which theprojector was a mirror-projection type projector, the present inventionis also effective for a projector of the lens-projection type.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been describedusing specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposesonly, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

1-18. (canceled)
 19. A projector comprising: a photodetector; a firstsonic receiver and a second sonic receiver; a distance acquirer; and adistance calculator coupled to said photodetector, said first sonicreceiver, said second sonic receiver, and said distance acquirer,wherein said photodetector detects light emitted from an object which ison a projected surface, said first sonic receiver and said second sonicreceiver receive a sonic wave emitted from the object, said distanceacquirer acquires a distance from said projector to the projectedsurface, and said distance calculator calculates a position of theobject based on outputs of said photodetector, said first sonicreceiver, said second sonic receiver, and said distance acquirer. 20.The projector according to claim 19, wherein the object comprises anelectronic pen.
 21. The projector according to claim 19, wherein theprojected surface comprises a screen.
 22. The projector according toclaim 19, wherein said distance calculator calculates said positionbased on a first time difference between the reception of said sonicwave by said first sonic receiver and the detection of said light bysaid photodetector, a second time difference between the reception ofsaid sonic wave by said second sonic receiver and the detection of thelight by said photodetector, and the distance to the projected surface.23. The projector according to claim 19, wherein said photodetectorcomprises an infrared photodetector, and said light comprises aninfrared light.
 24. The projector according to claim 19, wherein saidlight comprises a light pulse.
 25. The projector according to claim 19,wherein said first sonic receiver comprises a first ultrasonic receiver,said second sonic receivers comprises a second ultrasonic receiver, andsaid sonic wave comprises an ultrasonic wave.
 26. The projectoraccording to claim 19, wherein said sonic wave comprises a sonic pulse.27. The projector according to claim 19, wherein said distance acquirercomprises an ultrasonic sensor or a millimeter-wave echo sounder. 28.The projector according to claim 19, further comprising: a mirrorprojection system.
 29. The projector according to claim 19, wherein theprojector displays a calibration point, the object indicates saidcalibration point, and a result of said indication of said calibrationpoint are used to calibrate coordinates.
 30. An object positioncalculation method used in a projector, comprising: detecting lightemitted from an object which is on a projected screen; receiving a firstsonic wave and a second sonic wave emitted from the object; acquiring adistance to the projected surface; and calculating a position of theobject based on the detected light, the first sonic wave, the secondsonic wave, and the acquired distance.
 31. The method according to claim30, wherein the object emits a sonic wave, and the first sonic wave andthe second sonic wave, which are received, are the sonic wave.
 32. Themethod according to claim 30, wherein the first sonic wave and thesecond sonic wave are emitted from the object at the same time.
 33. Themethod according to claim 30, further comprising: displaying acalibration point; indicating said calibration point using an object;and calibrating coordinates using a result of said indication of saidcalibration point.
 34. A projector accessory comprising: aphotodetector; a first sonic receiver and a second sonic receiver; adistance acquirer; and a distance calculator coupled to saidphotodetector, said first sonic receiver, said second sonic receiver,and said distance acquirer, wherein said photodetector detects lightemitted from an object which is on a projected screen, said first sonicreceiver and said second sonic receiver receive a sonic wave emittedfrom the object, said distance acquirer acquires a distance from theprojector accessory to the projected surface, and said distancecalculator calculates a position of the object based on outputs of saidphotodetector, said first sonic receiver, said second sonic receiver,and said distance acquirer.
 35. A projector system comprising: aprojector; and an electronic pen, wherein said projector comprises: aphotodetector; a first sonic receiver and a second sonic receiver; adistance acquirer; and a distance calculator coupled to saidphotodetector, said first sonic receiver, said second sonic receiver,and said distance acquirer, wherein said photodetector detects lightemitted from said electronic pen which is on an projected screen, saidfirst sonic receiver and said second sonic receiver receive a sonic waveemitted from said electronic pen, said distance acquirer acquires adistance from said projector to the projected surface, and said distancecalculator calculates a position of said electronic pen based on outputsof said photodetector, said first sonic receiver, said second sonicreceiver, and said distance acquirer.
 36. A projector comprising:photodetection means for detecting light emitted from an object which ison a projected screen; first sonic receiving means for receiving a sonicwave emitted from the object; second sonic receiving means for receivingsaid sonic wave; distance acquirement means for acquiring a distancefrom said projector to the projected surface; and distance calculationmeans for calculation a position of the object, wherein said distancecalculation means calculates said position based on outputs of saidphotodetection means, said first sonic receiving means, said secondsonic receiving means, and said distance acquirement means.